New Year Greetings
A Holiday Prayer For Israel
I
n one of the most devastating accounts of West Bank
life yet, PA TV still masks Israel. That's an indict-
ment of the Palestinian Authority and its so-called
moderate Fatah party — make no mistake about that.
It's a pipedream to think Israel can negotiate with
P.A.President Mahmoud Abbas, who is beholden to radi-
cal interests even as he courts Israeli leaders.
Two children's quizzes aired the end of August
on Fatah-controlled PA TV underscore how the P.A.
openly teaches kids to identify all Israeli cities as part
of "Palestine." So reports the Palestinian Media Watch
(PMW), Israel's fierce watchdog against Palestinian
aggression and hatred.
"Palestinian children are taught through formal and
informal education to see a world in which 'Palestine'
replaces all of Israel," says the PMW's Itamar Marcus.
If that's not provocative enough, both Fatah and
Hamas, the terrorist organization that rules the
Gaza Strip, refuse to teach Palestinian kids about the
Holocaust, either denying or minimizing Hitler's fury
against European Jewry. "Holocaust denial and distor-
tion are already common components of Palestinian
ideology:' says Marcus.
Let the shofar blast of Rosh Hashanah 5770, which
begins at sundown Friday, remind us we must never
take the Jewish state for granted. For their part, Israelis
must stay on high alert to repel Arab neighbors indoc-
trinated by Islamist rulers to hate and kill Zionists and
Jews.
As American Jews comfortably settled in the dias-
pora, we must challenge ourselves to speak out against
intolerance and violence toward Israel, the beloved
Jewish ancestral homeland binding Jews everywhere as
a people — an emboldened people that has survived
repeated onslaughts over 3,000 years.
L'shanah tovah tikateivu. May you and yours be
inscribed in the book of life this new year. Shabbat sha-
lom as well! Fl
— Robert Sklar, editor
Our Best Days Are Ahead
A
s the Detroit Jewish community prepares for
the High Holidays, we wish you L'shanah tovah
— a new year filled with joy and happiness.
Although it has been a year of struggle for our commu-
nity of 72,000, our core value has remained the same: to
provide support for the health and welfare of our Jewish
community, both locally and overseas.
We are living at a time when many in our community
are suffering under the weight of unemployment, lack of
health care and foreclosure. Some who were once donors
now turn to us for help.
Our challenge is to find the way to meet the needs of
the community in a difficult economic environment and
to maintain or increase the level of resources in a time
where the needs are rising at a record pace.
Under the banner No Family Stands Alone, our chal-
lenge is to ensure that every member of the Jewish com-
munity can support their basic living needs: food, hous-
ing and access to health care.
Short-term, our challenge is to keep our eye on raising
funds, controlling costs and consolidating resources.
We have a history of great Jewish life in Detroit and a
tradition of taking care of those most in need in a digni-
fied way, but the only way to sustain that tradition is to
Nancy
Scott
Douglas M.
Grosfeld
Kaufman
Etkin
Community View
get more people involved — as supporters, as fundraisers
and as volunteers.
We also have to think about what our community
will look like in five, 10, and 20 years and plan and act
accordingly. We need to create an attractive environment
for young people to want to stay in Michigan, to provide
opportunities that sustain Jewish identity through Jewish
education for all ages, Israel experiences and Jewish
camping.
When historians chronicle the challenges of these days,
we are confident they will be able to write that our com-
munity came together to support one another with care,
compassion and dignity.
There are many things beyond anyone's control. We
cannot make our community something that it is not,
but we will get through this difficult economic time by
building on our stren as a cohesive, close-knit and
connected community.
We're here to stren en Jewish identity, to build Jewish
community and to grow Jewish philanthropy to help
people in need in a dignified way.
For thousands of years, the Jewish people have over-
come obstacles and renewed their commitment to their
family and community. All Jews are responsible, one for
another. If you wish to help, or are in need of help, please
visit jewishdetroit.org.
Our best days are not behind us. Our best days are
ahead of us and that will be our challenge: to see those
best days return.
L'shanah tovah. PI
Nancy Grosfeld is president of the Bloomfield Township-based
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. Scott Kaufman
is Federation's chief executive officer. Douglas M. Etkin is
president of the Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit,
Federation's banking/real estate arm.
Our Challenging Times
W
ith summer coming to an end and the High
Holidays approaching, this is a time to
reflect on our values and goals for the corn-
ing year. As the new president of the Jewish Community
Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit, I want to
focus on many important issues facing our community
and how to best engage the Council — and you — in
addressing those issues.
The list is familiar to us: the nuclear threat of Iran and
the many challenges facing Israel, health care reform,
poverty, immigration reform and education.
As individuals and as a community, we have an obli-
gation to provide our input to help guide and influence
the leaders who will be deciding how those issues will
8
September 17
t
2009
is nothing new
be addressed. This
community has
Detroit's Jewish
influence on the
always had great
important issues.
public debate of
nearly 75 year
Throughout its
has provided a
history, Council
munity leaders to
forum for com-
discuss, debate
come together and
and decide on the Richard Nodel critical issues of
Community
the day.
View
we discussed how
In the 1930s,
ferences between
to bridge the dif-
our German, Russian, Hungarian and Polish Jewish
communities. In the 1940s, the Council discussed and
decided how to deal with the survivors of World War
II. As the establishment of the State of Israel was being
debated at the United Nations, Council played an active
role in generating local support.
The 1950s saw Council playing an important role in
planning and supporting the foundations of our modern
community, such as a new Jewish Community Center
and the building of Sinai Hospital. And since the 1960s,
when we took a leadership role in supporting the civil
rights struggle, Council demonstrated how effective it
can be in fostering community action.
Today, more than ever, we understand our role in pro-
viding a forum to discuss and hopefully reach a consen-
sus that can be translated into community action. At the